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From fire chief to fire marshal: Mark Wallace says goodbye to McKinney and hello to a new opportunity
Courtesy of McKinney Fire Department - Former McKinney Fire Chief Mark Wallace
By Marthe Stinton, mstinton@acnpapers.com
McKinney Fire Chief Mark Wallace has retired from the McKinney Fire Department but will take on a new role as the fire marshal for the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal.
Wallace is a 42-year fire service veteran who has used his experience to revitalize McKinney's fire department during a time of rapid growth and challenges. He has served in every position within the fire service. Wallace holds an associates degree in fire science technology; a bachelor's degree in business administration; and masters in public administration.
He is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program of the National Fire Academy and is designated a "Chief Fire Officer" by the Commission on Public Safety Excellence. He was selected as a member of the Institution of Fire Engineers, an international association of fire service professionals, and is a designated "Certified Emergency Manager" by the International Association of Emergency Managers.
"I met a guy who was a head hunter for the position here in McKinney," Wallace said. "My daughter was here and my wife and daughter conspired to have me apply and that worked out. We came down, and with my book on strategic planning, the growth of the city was so fast it was the right opportunity to come down and make a strategic plan."
The economic climate in McKinney was the perfect spot for Wallace to take a page from his book, "Fire Department Strategic Planning: Creating Future Excellence," and help bring the city up to speed.
"With the fast growth, I knew we could make a plan and follow through with it," Wallace said. "Since I have been here, we have built five stations, a public safety building, replaced all the vehicles and went from 68 to 165 people. It was a big growth and it was an opportunity that few chiefs get the chance to have."
The opportunity may have easily presented itself, but there were challenges along the way that kept Wallace and the department on its toes.
"There is never the perfect situation, you never have enough money, you never have enough people and the things you face are always a little different than what you think they are," Wallace said. "When you look at a fire department it has to handle the problems created by the most highly technological parts of the city. So you need to know if someone gets wrecked in a car you need to know how to safely take them out of it without injuring them more."
To Wallace, public safety isn't just about keeping criminals off the street or putting out fires; it's a challenging career that requires more than meets the eye.
"You need to be experts in the weather because of the storms," he said. "Just like the storms last week, we set off the sirens for a real reason -- the potential of danger. Fortunately the expectation and potential didn't come to reality, but you have to have the professionals that can look at that and say, 'this is what we need to do for the safety of the citizens.' We will always err on the side of safety."
The success of the McKinney Fire Department makes it difficult to believe Wallace stumbled into his career.
"I was playing folk music at a bar at Fort Collins, where the fire fighters hung out," he said. "They were always there having a great time and never seemed to work. It sounded like a great thing to do. They told me to come down and take the test on Saturday and that's what I did. Forty-two years later I am sitting here."
Wallace spent 10 years as fire chief in McKinney and made lasting friendships with those who worked closely with him.
"I have worked with him since he got here 10 years ago," Frank Roma, assistant fire chief for the city of McKinney said. "We all have a boss but not all of us have a boss who's a friend and Mark has become a true friend as well as a great boss."
Roma said Wallace will be leaving a lasting legacy and taught him something he will continue to practice -- patience.
"We have had a lot of unique challenges that have occurred during the last 10 years as a result of the rapid growth," Roma said. "We had multiple challenges and he has really helped me to understand what it takes to be patient to better serve the community."
Wallace credits the success of the department to its employees.
"I have had the pleasure of being their fire chief and trying to put a thumbprint on direction, guidance, facilitation and leadership," he said. "But I have really tried to put the right people in the right position, let them do their jobs and stay out of the way.
When it comes down to it, you get good people with good training and give direction for them, the citizens of McKinney can be proud of the fire department, police department and all of the city for the services we provide."
Along with his role as the Oregon State Fire Marshal, Wallace plans to become a FEMA-certified instructor of the Incident Command System.
"I finished a four-year training course and I am certified now to teach people how to command and control emergency incidents," he said. "Through their study with me, they will become certified through FEMA to be commanders and planning chiefs."
Wallace believes his passion for teaching will allow him to make a larger impact on communities around the world.
"I look at it like teaching people to fish," he said. "If you spread the word to someone and in turn they spread it to several others, the compounding of that knowledge and opportunity makes a great impact for everyone."
In Oregon, he will lead a staff of 78 working in areas of community education, emergency planning and response, fire and life safety, inspection, investigation, fire code administration, licensing, permitting, and data gathering and analysis.
He will begin the new chapter of his career on July 1.
"I have had the fortune to work with great people, mentored when I can and now they can carry on," Wallace said. "I am very happy with the level of service I am leaving the city with. McKinney can be proud of the people that serve them on a day-in day-out basis."
Wallace will be leaving late June but will give audiences one last chance to see him venture back to his folk-playing roots. He will be performing from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on June 11 at the Chestnut Square farmers market.
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